Lanceolate leaves of a silvery grey cover a rounded, spreading crown, while greenish-yellow catkins open at the beginning of spring, just as those leaves unfurl. White willow (Salix alba) is one of the main sources of wicker, and it asks for only one thing: ground that stays moist or wet — meet that, and growth is fast.
| Botanical name | Salix alba |
|---|---|
| Common names | white willow, silver willow, golden willow |
| Family | Salicaceae |
| Type | Tree |
| Foliage | deciduous |
| Bearing | columnar, wider at the top than at the bottom |
| Height | 50 to 65 feet (15 to 20 metres) |
| Breadth | 40 feet (12 m) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | any type |
| Hardiness | hardy |
| Growth | fast |
| Flowering | spring |
Salix alba is a willow species that has a rounded, spreading crown. Its foliage is lanceolate and a silvery-gray color. The blooming occurs at the beginning of spring, and leaves unfurl at the same time. The flowers are catkins that are either male or female, both being a greenish yellow color.
White willow is one of the main sources for making wicker baskets, and some varieties have surprising ornamental bark that stands out in winter. Two examples: ‘Britzensis’, shown here, has bright red wood and Salix alba var. vitellina has a nearly golden-colored bark.
White willow isn’t a difficult tree to please. As a matter of fact, it copes well with any type of soil, adapts to any soil pH, and loves full sun.
The only critical factor that matters is soil moisture: the ground must always be moist or wet to some degree.
As is common in the tree and shrub world, the best season to plant white willow is the beginning of fall, if possible, when the weather gets wetter again.
Nonetheless, it’s still perfectly fine to plant in spring, but this isn’t recommended since you’ll have to water a lot more: not good to save on water, and not so great for the environment, either.
To lock moisture in the soil, especially during the summertime, do go ahead and lather a thick layer of plant-based mulch, all around the base of your tree.
Pruning white willow is only necessary at the beginning of its growth, to structure your tree. After that, all you’ll need to do is remove dead branches and those that might become dangerous if they break off.
Pollarding, shown here, is another way of pruning it: cut branches back every 2 years.
Species and varieties with colorful bark, like the one featured higher in the article, often are brightest when they send out new shoots every year. Prune them like you would dogwoods with colorful bark.
Willow is among the easiest trees to propagate, and white willow clearly follows that good will! To multiply your tree, go for cuttings from soft, new wood that you would collect at the end of summer, or even with hard wood cut from branches in winter.
As a general rule, simply sticking a stem with a few leaves in the soil is enough to trigger growth and get a new plant.
White willow can, at times, be overrun by caterpillars and sap-suckers like aphids and scale insects.
As for diseases, fungus are usually the worst offenders: they form necrotic spots.
Every job on a white willow has its own moment in the year. This table gathers the timings given above so you can see at a glance what the tree asks for and when.
| Task | When | What it involves |
|---|---|---|
| Planting (preferred) | Beginning of fall | Plant as the weather turns wetter again, in any soil type, in full sun |
| Planting (second best) | Spring | Still fine, but expect far more watering through the first season |
| Structural pruning | Early years of growth | Shape the young tree, then simply take out dead or dangerous branches |
| Pollarding | Every 2 years | Cut the branches back hard to the top of the trunk |
| Softwood cuttings | End of summer | Take soft, new wood and root it like a dogwood cutting |
| Hardwood cuttings | Winter | Cut lengths of branch; a stem pushed into soil usually takes |
Keep to these moments and the tree looks after itself for the rest of the year.
Beyond the plain species, white willow is sold in a handful of selected forms grown either for blazing winter stems, for silvery foliage or for timber and avenue planting. The table below sets out the ones most often met in British and North American nurseries.
| Variety | Winter stem colour | Foliage | Habit | Grown for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Britzensis’ | Orange-scarlet | Narrow, mid-green | Tall tree, usually coppiced | Winter stem colour |
| var. caerulea | Not notable | Bluish-green | Tall, upright crown | Cricket-bat timber |
| ‘Cardinalis’ | Deep red | Narrow, green | Coppiced stool | Strongest red stems |
| ‘Chermesina’ | Bright red-orange | Narrow, green | Tall, cut back hard | Scarlet winter display |
| var. vitellina | Egg-yellow to golden | Slender, green | Tall, pollarded or coppiced | Golden stems, basketry |
| ‘Yelverton’ | Orange-red | Slender, green | Coppiced stool | Winter stems, basketry |
| var. sericea | Not notable | Intensely silvery-grey | Medium tree, rounded | Silver foliage effect |
| ‘Argentea’ | Not notable | Silvery-white | Medium to tall tree | Silver-leaved specimen |
| ‘Liempde’ | Not notable | Grey-green | Tall, narrow and upright | Avenue and street planting |
| ‘Tristis’ | Yellow shoots | Fresh green, narrow | Tall, weeping | Waterside specimen tree |
The size and bearing of white willow predetermine its use: it does best in parks and large gardens. Grow it either as a standalone, or surround it with other majestic trees such as lime and eucryphia for instance.
